When it comes to investing, there are times when you're going to want to swing big. Not all these investments will pan out, but if one hits, your portfolio will greatly benefit. Just remember that these types of riskier picks should only account for part of an overall diversified portfolio.
Let's look at three growth stocks that have the potential to go parabolic.
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1. IonQ
IonQ (IONQ 2.15%) is moving quantum computing from theory into the real world. The company is already delivering systems to commercial, government, and academic customers while working toward fault-tolerant machines that can run at scale. That's the breakthrough the industry needs to achieve mainstream success.
IonQ is working from a position of strength. Following a recent equity offering, the company now has $1.6 billion in cash (as of July 9, 2025), making it one of the best-capitalized players in the field. In addition, the company is spending its money wisely by making key acquisitions to both expand its talent base and add new capabilities, such as space-based quantum networks.
NYSE: IONQ
Key Data Points
Its partnership with AstraZeneca, Amazon, and Nvidia, is working to demonstrate a quantum-accelerated computational chemistry workflow. This collaboration involves integrating IonQ's quantum processing unit with Nvidia's CUDA-Q platform, powered by Amazon's AWS infrastructure. It's showing early signs of success, with AstraZeneca seeing a 20-fold speed-up in drug development workflows. It has also recently formed a quantum networking division, making a move to become a leader in this space, as well.
If quantum computing fulfills its promise, the market could be enormous. IonQ's combination of financial strength, key partnerships, and technology leadership puts it in a prime position to be one of the biggest winners in the space.
2. SoundHound AI
SoundHound AI (SOUN +4.73%) is looking to carve out a leadership position in conversational and agentic artificial intelligence (AI). Its acquisition of Amelia last year gave it access to the company's advanced conversational intelligence, which it then combined with its "speech-to-meaning" and "deep meaning understanding" tech.
The result is Amelia 7.0, a voice-first agentic AI platform that allows customers to create AI agents with little to no coding. These agents can complete tasks independently, which greatly expands the valuation proposition of SoundHound's platform. It's also added real-time AI visual recognition to its tech stack, making its platform even more powerful.
NASDAQ: SOUN
Key Data Points
SoundHound has long had a strong foothold in the automotive and restaurant sectors, where it continues to see strong success. Meanwhile, the Amelia acquisition gave it a solid foundation in other industry verticals, including financial services and healthcare, which are now major priorities.
The strength of the combination was on full display in Q2, as SoundHound's revenue soared 217% year over year to $42.7 million, far outpacing expectations. It also raised its full-year guidance due to accelerating demand, and expects to reach adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) profitability by the end of 2025.
This is still an early-stage, high-risk investment, but the market potential for voice-powered and multimodal agentic AI is huge. If SoundHound can become a leader in this space, the stock has tremendous upside from here.
3. AppLovin
AppLovin (APP 1.29%) has been one of the market's most explosive growth stories, with its shares up more than 400% over the past year. However, its outperformance could be far from done.
Following the sale of its legacy gaming app portfolio, AppLovin is now a pure-play adtech platform. Its secret sauce is its AI engine, Axon 2.0, which optimizes ad targeting, bidding, and placement, driving strong results for its gaming app clients. It sees the gaming app market alone growing at a 20% to 30% annual pace for the foreseeable future.
NASDAQ: APP
Key Data Points
However, it has more growth drivers ahead. It's currently testing its platform with e-commerce and web-based ads, expanding beyond just gaming apps. It also plans to open its platform to advertisers outside the U.S. and launch a self-serve ads manager next year. Management believes this will be the foundation for its next leg of growth, expanding its customer base and use cases well beyond gaming.
While short-sellers have taken shots at the company, AppLovin has continued to deliver strong revenue, earnings, and free cash flow growth quarter after quarter. If Axon 2.0 proves as effective outside gaming apps as it has within them, the stock could continue its vertical ascent.
